


Psychopathy

by Sephirotha



Category: Original Work
Genre: Congenital analgesia, Gen, Possible Middle Child Syndrome, psychopathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-03-25 22:34:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3827455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are so many questions about psychopathy.  Are you born with it?  Do you learn it?  Is it from bad parenting?  It doesn't matter in Rena's case.  The damage is done and when will it end?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Naomi, what did Mr Sakurai say?” Mrs Kitamura asked excitedly.

“He said yes, he’s coming tomorrow to buy my art collection!” Naomi said enthusiastically and her mother cried out in joy.

“Oh that’s wonderful, you’ll truly be part of the art world and we can finally pay off our mortgage!” she smiled and kissed her eldest daughter on the head.

“Mommy,” Seiko announced her presence next to Naomi “Look!”

She presented the piece of paper to her mother who read through it and smiled wider.

“You passed your singing exam with full colours!” she exclaimed and hugged her youngest daughter tightly then glanced up at Rena “Oh, Rena.”

The sisters stepped away a little from the middle sister at the door who was waiting patiently for her path to be cleared so she could go to her room.

“Do you have anything to show me?”

Rena looked up at her mother’s face that held little expectations for her. She simply shook her head and she sighed.

“I’m not surprised,” she murmured as Seiko frowned.

“But Rena did…”

“Well, I’m in the mood to cook something special!” Mrs Kitamura interrupted her and clapped her hands together “Shall I cook your favourite?”

The girls were drawn away from Rena by the exciting prospect of their favourite dishes and they went to the living room together to tell their father of their achievements of the day. Rena simply walked upstairs and straight to her room where she placed her satchel down. She carefully eased out her literature paper which had been scored full marks, her most recent picture of a character out of a fantasy world and a certificate that she had gotten from her swimming class. She filed the paper and certificate and stuck the picture up with the others on the wall in front of her desk. She sat back and carefully counted them, reaching a total of fifty-two. That final drawing marked a year of when she had begun drawing. Rena pulled out a notebook and turned to the latest page of her story writing. She took out her pen and began writing for exactly thirty one minutes when she began to smell her mother’s cooking. She put her pen back in the line of pens on the top of her desk before neatly tucking her notebook into its drawer. She stood up and carefully aligned her chair under her desk then walked to the middle of the room, right in the centre of the rug she had. She stared at her drawings, blinking every ten seconds to keep her eyes moist. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

“Rena!” Naomi called as she opened the door to find her “Ah, Rena, dinner’s ready! Mom made…”

Rena walked past her as she paused to look at her drawings on the wall and walked downstairs towards the dining room.

“Rena!”

Rena stopped when Naomi grabbed her hand.

“Rena, when are you going to show Mom and Dad?”

Rena looked up at Naomi who looked concerned and confused.

“They’re not for sale,” she said simply.

“But they’re brilliant! Your technique is superb, I’m sure someone would be willing to pay a lot…”

“I said they’re not for sale.”

“Then make some to sell, you can help our parents pay off bills and they can help you with classwork, you can come out to dinners with us…”

“I don’t need help with classwork or going out to dinners with you,” Rena said dismissively as she walked into the dining room and sat in her seat.

She began eating once everyone was at the table, not once looking up to engage in the conversation about Seiko’s music lessons, Naomi’s potential career as a professional artist, something about avoiding repossession and swimming…

“I saw Rena had a swimming certificate in her satchel!” Seiko suddenly brought up and Rena hesitated briefly.

She looked up as her parents looked at her with surprised twinkles in their eyes, as if they had discovered a chest of gold buried in their garden.

“Really?” Mr Kitamura tilted his head curiously.

“Oh, what grade?” Mrs Kitamura asked eagerly.

Rena looked at her father then at her mother before looking at Seiko.

“One, that is none of your business,” she said then looked at her parents “Two, I have been swimming for a while and three, it was a silver certificate.”

That had lost their interest already. Her father returned to his dinner whilst her mother hummed.

“Well, if that makes you happy, we’re not to judge,” she said with a disappointed sigh.

“What do you mean, it’s brilliant!” Naomi said with a snort “She’s passed the silver level and can compete for gold.”

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” her mother said calmly “Clearly if Rena prefers living a normal, average life to pleasing her hardworking parents then she can, it’s a free world. Bring all the silver and bronze achievements you want to fill your decadent room.”

“She is trying her hardest,” Naomi said venomously.

Her mother snorted derisively and Rena looked at Naomi.

“It’s none of your business either.”

“Rena, you have so much potential that’s going unnoticed and…”

“Naomi, we should sort out your displays for Mr Sakurai tomorrow,” their father interrupted her as he stood.

“Seiko, darling, I must listen to the song you sang for your exam,” their mother smiled as she stood and ushered her youngest daughter out.

Naomi was taken upstairs to her room and Rena was left with the dishes to clean up. She didn’t complain as she cleared the table. She returned to her room where she began to sort out her things for the next school day and organise how her day was going to go tomorrow. At nine o’clock sharp, she went to the bathroom to bathe, brush her teeth and change into her night clothes. When she returned to her room she found Naomi staring up at her picture wall, shaking her head.

“Just show them.”

“Out.”

“Rena, please hear me out.”

“I said out.”

“Rena, listen to me.”

“Get out.”

“Don’t you dare try to shut me out again!” Naomi raised her voice.

Rena rolled her neck from one side to the other before she walked around her older sister until Naomi was in between her and the door.

“Final warning.”

“Rena, I am going to go out and tell our parents that you are talented so they can give you the love you need to grow up.”

Rena resisted the urge to roll her eyes so she rolled up the sleeves of her pyjamas.

“For future reference, I did give you a fair warning,” she said before bracing her arms and pushed Naomi out forcefully.

Naomi screamed in terror as Rena put so much force into her push, she tumbled over the stair railing outside her room and fell to the marble floor below where her body landed with a crunch. Rena wandered out of her room to look down at where her sister was curled up, crying in shock. Her right arm looked broken but apart from that, Rena guessed she probably might have some other broken bones and internal bleeding. Naomi stared at her sister’s emotionless face with disbelief with her lack of empathy. At her look, Rena tilted her head.

“Oh, sorry. But I did warn you.”

“Naomi!”

Their mother was on the scene, crouching over her beloved daughter with shaking hands.

“Satoshi, call an ambulance!” she shrieked and cradled her to her chest “Breathe, Naomi, breathe, stay with me!”

She then chanced to look up where Rena watched silently, Seiko wandering out to take her viewing position next to her.

“What’s going on?” she asked sleepily.

“You!” Mrs Kitamura shrieked as she pointed an accusing finger at Rena “How could you do this to your sister?!”

“It was an accident,” Rena shrugged “She’ll live.”

“What is wrong with you?!” her mother beckoned the father over to cradle Naomi whilst phoning for an ambulance before storming upstairs to confront her “You could have killed her! Have you no remorse?!”

Rena took a second to think before looking back up at her mother.

“I see how it could be an inconvenience but she didn’t die, I don’t see the fuss,” she said to her mother’s livid expression.

Her mother’s face turned purple as her ear was snatched and she was dragged down the stairs. Rena still retained her poker face as she was cast outside into the back garden by her mother who stood at the door, her nostrils flaring.

“You will not have the comfort of sleeping in your own bed tonight!” she screamed “You will sleep out here and perhaps you will learn to understand how lucky you are! We give you food, we give you shelter, we give you love and this is how you repay us?! You monstrous child, learn how to feel already!”

The door being slammed didn’t faze the young girl of nine years. She looked to her right where the lights turned off from the neighbours’ home. She looked to her left where the other neighbours’ lingered before turning their lights off. She focused on the door, calculating her schedule for tomorrow to make necessary adjustments then lay down on the grass, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Rena woke up when she heard someone approaching her and opened her eyes to see her father with a blanket. He wrapped it around her then picked her up, carrying her into the sitting room. Rena was placed on the sofa, her father hugging her.

“We do love you, Rena,” he told her “Your mother just overreacted a little. It was an accident, wasn’t it?”

Rena nodded.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Rena shook her head. Her father sighed and smiled.

“Very well,” he murmured and brought her onto his lap “You’re ice cold.”

Rena remained silent as he rubbed his hands up and down her.

“I saw your pictures.”

“They’re not for sale.”

Her father glanced down at her before smiling.

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” he said “I just wanted to say that they’re very good.”

He kissed her head.

“And I’m proud that you earned that certificate. Not everyone gets gold first time.”

He cupped her cheeks.

“Don’t forget. You’re my irreplaceable daughter.”

“Naomi.”

“Isn’t you.”

“Seiko.”

“You’re all irreplaceable. There is no criterion that you need to meet in order to be loved.”

Rena was silent as she was embraced tighter.

“How about I make some warm cocoa for you?” he suggested “Get you nice and warm then tuck you into bed.”

“I’ve brushed my teeth.”

“You can brush them again. And tomorrow your mother is planning to take your sisters out for a treat. Let’s go out for dinner.”

“You normally go with them.”

“I know less about you and it needs to change,” Mr Kitamura stroked her head fondly “I’m sorry for being a bad father.”

Rena looked up at him, her cold, calculating chocolate eyes reading his face.

“It’s because I pushed Naomi.”

Her father flinched.

“Rena, that may be part of the reason but I also genuinely wish to get to know you. You don’t tell us anything about yourself.”

Rena just stared at him, as if silently asking for his point. He took in a deep breath and drummed his fingers on the sofa thoughtfully.

“Rena, I want to get to know you, I don’t want you to feel left out or neglected. Your mother, she has always had high expectations, even I had to work hard to gain her love and attention.”

He rubbed her arms gently.

“And you know it’s not right to push your sister like that. Supposing she hit her head and got concussion or worse?”

Rena thought for a minute.

“We don’t have enough money for a funeral?” she tilted her head curiously and her father stared at her with alarmed eyes.

“That’s what your concern is?” he whispered “Your sister might have died.”

“And if she did die, her paintings would go up in value if someone’s interested in buying them, right?”

“Rena, you’re missing the point,” her father shook her a little bit “You could have killed your sister.”

“But it was an accident and I might serve a few years in prison if you report me to the police,” Rena said slowly.

“Rena, this is serious!” her father raised his voice “Look, I understand it might have been out of jealousy…”

“Jealousy?” Rena interrupted him “She wouldn’t get out of my room. I told her to leave three times, gave her a final warning then pushed her out.”

Her father hesitated, staring down at her warily.

“Rena, don’t you even feel bad for hurting Naomi?”

Rena shook her head.

“Why not?” her father gripped her shoulders tightly “You hurt your sister, her arm is broken and she won’t be able to paint again for a long time. She’ll have to be in the hospital for a long time and it’s because you pushed her.”

“She’ll live, she’ll heal,” Rena shrugged.

“Rena, don’t you even feel a little remorse? Guilt? Anything?”

Rena was silent as her father watched her face before leaning back, biting his lip nervously.

“You really don’t feel sorry,” he murmured in disbelief “Rena, have you ever felt guilty for anything? Anything at all?”

Rena paused to look into space for a couple of seconds before looking back up at him.

“No, I’ve never had a reason to.”

“Rena! You have to feel guilty for breaking your sister’s arm!”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what people do, it’s how they function. Do you want your sister to get hurt?”

“I don’t care.”

Her father sighed as he sat back, rubbing his head thoughtfully.

“Did you at least apologize?”

“I said that I was sorry but she had a fair warning.”

Rena’s father frowned as he leaned his cheek against his fist, petting Rena’s head as he watched her glum face.

“That doesn’t give you the green flag to push her out,” he said.

“How else to I get her out when talking won’t work?” Rena asked whilst tilting her head.

“Well if she was upsetting you, you can come to us,” her father reassured her “I will listen to you, Rena. You can come to me with any problems that you have.”

Rena looked down before looking back up.

“Very well.”

Her father smiled and hugged her tight. Rena made no move to hug back as she lay lax against her father’s chest. She didn’t bat an eyelid as he pressed a firm kiss to her head and rubbed her back. He made her hot cocoa as promised, let her brush her teeth afterwards before tucking her into bed. He stroked her cheek fondly and smiled.

“Do you want anything in particular for tomorrow?” he asked.

Rena shook her head and he frowned.

“Well how about we just have a walk around and choose a restaurant?” he suggested “Would you like that?”

Rena stayed silent as her father looked strained a little then nodded to himself.

“Yes, that’s what we’ll do,” he confirmed and kissed her forehead “Goodnight, Rena. Sleep tight.”

Rena nodded as she lay her head on her pillow and went to sleep. Her father stood, admired her wall of pictures before leaving her bedroom, carefully closing the door.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Rena was in her bedroom, making no noise and pretending that she didn’t exist for her mother’s sake.  She was starting her next drawing for the week on her desk, a completed short story with illustrations bound and put to the left side of the desk, ready to be filed with the other short stories on the shelf.  That shelf was getting full, Rena made a note to prepare to make another shelf underneath.  That was going to take a lot of time and noise, Rena would need to thoroughly plan making this shelf, otherwise she’ll run out of room and will not have the time to write more short stories.  That would disrupt her routine which will cause hassle.  Rena blinked when her hand slipped from reaching for the coloured pencils and knocked over one of her bottles of coloured ink.  What a careless error that would have been easily avoided.  This ink was expensive, it took up three months of Rena’s allowance to buy.  Nevertheless, none of her work was ruined but the ink was wasted. 

Rena stood the bottle upright, salvaging the ink that was still inside and looked at the state of her hands.  She wouldn’t be able to continue drawing like this.  However if she went out to wash her hands, her parents might get the wrong idea considering what happened yesterday.  Why did it have to be the red ink that got spilt?  Rena continued standing there, looking at her hands and analysing each scenario before her.  It took a few minutes before she walked to the door, lifting her foot to open the door so ink wouldn’t get all over the door handle, then walked into the bathroom.  She used her foot again to turn on the taps of the sink and washed her hands clean of the light red ink.  It washed off easily and in a few seconds, Rena’s hands were pristine clean. 

She turned off the taps, took a damp cloth and walked out of the bathroom, down the corridor and stopped at the doorway of her bedroom.  There was a strange man, clearly a foreign man, in her bedroom, reading her short story.  Rena stayed deadly still as he read the story, looking up at her wall of drawings then realising the different links with the characters and landscapes that took place in her story.  He then noticed her by the doorway and offered a friendly smile.

“Well, hello,” he greeted as he closed her story and placed it down on the desk “You must be the lovely younger sister of Naomi, correct?”

“Correct,” Rena replied.

“Well, the artistic gift must be genetic then, what fabulous drawings you have,” he said as he stroked his beard.

“They’re not for sale.”

“Oh, well we don’t have to sell the originals,” the man said dismissively “We can do prints!  Several copies for anyone to have.”

“You’re Mr Sakurai,” Rena said after realising who this man was “But you’re not Japanese.”

“I took on my mother’s appearance more than my father’s,” Mr Sakurai said dismissively “But please, Mr Sakurai sounds so formal, call me…”

He paused for a second, clicking his tongue.  Rena could sense he didn’t want to give her his first name but no matter, she wouldn’t give hers unless he read it off her story.  Mr Sakurai then smirked and looked down at Rena.

“Belial.”

“You wish for me to call you the devil,” Rena said and Mr Sakurai laughed.

“I see the devil as misunderstood,” he shrugged “You certainly are intelligent to know of that name.  Relax, call me Yuuya.”

“Yuuya.”

Yuuya crouched down to Rena’s eye level and took out a business card, pressing it to her hands.

“We should have dinner some time,” he purred “Talk about your potential career as an artist, maybe even a comic drawer.”

“But you’re here to look at Naomi’s paintings,” Rena said.

“Yes, but that ink looks terribly expensive,” Yuuya heaved a sigh as he looked at the bottles of ink on Rena’s desk “Maybe a couple of prints might be able to, I don’t know, compensate for the spilt bottle?”

Rena looked at her bottles of ink and then looked at the drawings on the wall.  It would be convenient, she wanted to use the red ink for a certain picture she had in mind.  Rena looked back at Yuuya.  He seemed very suspicious with that smile.  Her parents trusted him, Naomi trusted him and Rena didn’t want to trust him.  It was a conundrum.  Rena looked back at the half-empty bottle of red ink then glanced up at the drawings.  Fifty-two of them to choose from, maybe she should select one that held the least value to her.  She walked over to the drawing on the right side of her desk, the second row, and took it down.  It was only a drawing of a black cat with pink eyes in an alleyway.  Rena handed it over and Yuuya took it, standing up to admire it in the light.

“How adorable,” he commented and Rena offered a plastic wallet “If you could sign it?”

Rena hesitated but she took the fountain pen from her desk drawer.  She hesitated once more before quickly signing her first name, using Latin script and adding a fancy curve underneath. 

“Marvellous,” Yuuya praised as he picked the drawing up “I shouldn’t expect less from a young intelligent lady like yourself, Rena.”

This was praise, Rena realised when she failed to recognise his tone briefly.  Yes, her teachers praised her but it was mainly written down, she didn’t get much verbal praise.  Suddenly, Yuuya’s hand was on her head, ruffling her hair.

“I will make sure your work gets the recognition it deserves,” he promised her “As for dinner, how about next Sunday?”

“…I am free.”

“Excellent, seven o’clock, formal dress, I will come and pick you up.”

Rena watched him leave and glanced at the card in her hands.  She could sense that there was something very wrong about this arrangement.  She placed the card on her desk and slid onto her chair, her pencil hovering over the paper.  She had lost the motivation to draw.  Rena narrowed her eyes.  Something terrible was going to happen soon.


End file.
